The present invention relates to the processing of animal and vegetable oils and more particularly relates to a new and improved composition and a method for blending mixtures of oils to form a stable clear liquid release agent.
Mixtures of animal and vegetable oils are widely used in numerous products such as salad oils, cooking and baking oils, release coatings for baking and cooking pans and the like. Such oil mixtures, which may include additives to prevent spattering during cooking, emulsifiers, colorants and flavorants are normally prepared by blending the ingredients at an elevated temperature and packaging or storing the hot blend directly from the blending operation, in a container. The blended oil mixture is then allowed to cool slowly to ambient temperature in the container.
In accordance with the conventional prior art methods of blending animal and vegetable oils, the cooling of the blended oils occurs unevenly with the greatest rate of cooling occurring at the interface of the container and oil while the center portion of the oil cools most slowly. Thus, any tendency for the components to separate will occur during the slow cooling period in the container and even in the case where gross separation of components does not occur, resultant finished products may tend to be slightly dull in appearance.
In view of the fact that blended oils are normally examined for clarity and brightness by customers, either during quality control test when sold in bulk or by viewing in clear transparent containers at the retail level, any tendency towards lack of brightness or separation of the blended components in the finished product is highly undesirable.
Additionally, some prior blended oils for instance, used as food release pan coatings have generally been formed of a water in oil emulsion packed with hydrocarbon propellants, such as butane gas. In this regard, butane gas or other flammable propellant is disadvantageous in that its use presents an explosion hazard and relatively limited shelf life for the resultant packed water in oil emulsion product. This limited shelf life is caused by a relatively high absorption of butane gas in the emulsion as well as health hazards that have been expereince due to bacterial growth (salmonilla) associated with water in oil blends.
Hence, those concerned with the development and use of release agents have recognized a significant need for an effective packaged release agent which is a stable, clear liquid and which is environmentally safe. The present invention fulfills this need.